Hillbilly Jim
Jim Morris (born July 5, 1952), best known to fans as Hillbilly Jim, is an American professional wrestler and disc jockey. He was one of the World Wrestling Federation's most popular wrestlers of the mid-to-late 1980s and current member of The Kutter Regime, a stable in WWEFE. Career Early career Before appearing in the WWF (now WWEFE) as Hillbilly Jim, Morris wrestled in the Memphis area under the name Harley Davidson, a biker gimmick. While there, Morris formed a popular tag team with Roger Smith, who went by the ring name "Dirty Rhodes" because of his resemblance to Dusty Rhodes. World Wrestling Federation (1984-1990) In late-1984, Morris first appeared in the WWF (now WWEFE) as a wrestling fan who routinely sat in the front row of live events, who eventually decided to try his hand at wrestling himself. A series of vignettes were aired on WWF's TV programming in the early weeks of 1985, showing Hulk Hogan training Jim and providing him with his first set of wrestling boots. This introduced the character of Hillbilly Jim, a simple-minded, shaggy-bearded Appalachian hillbilly clad in bib overalls, and hailing from Mud Lick, Kentucky (though the town had been renamed Monroe Township long ago). Hillbilly Jim appeared in a few tag team matches with friend Hulk Hogan, and had his first high-profile singles match at The War to Settle the Score event on February 18, 1985 in which he defeated Rene Goulet. Unfortunately, Jim was sidelined by an injury a few days later. At a show in San Diego, he appeared in Hogan's corner in a match between Hogan and Brutus Beefcake. While chasing Beefcake's manager Johnny V around ringside, Morris slipped on a wet spot and (legitimately) broke his leg. To help fill in the seven months during his recovery, similarly-dressed "family" members Uncle Elmer, Cousin Luke, and Cousin Junior were introduced for Jim to accompany to ringside as a manager. When his in-ring career resumed, Jim often either tag teamed with his family, or fellow big man André the Giant. He was traditionally matched up against the WWF's (now WWEFE's) monster heels of the era, such as Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy. He also had a short feud with Mr. Fuji, and wrestled him in a series of tuxedo matches in late-1986. Hillbilly Jim was generally kept as a "fun" character, rarely getting involved in any serious storylines. His only WrestleMania appearance outside of battle royals (prior to his return in 2008) was a novelty match in WrestleMania III involving King Kong Bundy and midget wrestlers. His theme music was a folksy barn dance tune called "Don't Go Messin' With a Country Boy", which Jim danced along to with his partners (or the ring announcer) while the audience clapped along. In addition to wrestling, Hillbilly Jim is also credited as creating the puppet named "Mine" for fellow WWF Superstar George "The Animal" Steele. Hillbilly Jim continued to appear regularly in WWF matches until the summer of 1990. His last high profile match for some time was during the April 28, 1990 (taped April 23, 1990) edition of Saturday Night's Main Event in which he lost to Earthquake in a squash match that lasted just under 2 minutes. Retirement and part–time WWF/E appearances (1995-2007) Jim returned in December 1995 as a guest referee and a month later became manager of Henry O. and Phineas I. Godwinn, "cousins" who were pig farmers. Morris later worked as a road agent and participated in the "Gimmick Battle Royal" in 2001 at WrestleMania X-Seven. He was the official WWE legend host of the highly successful WrestleMania Fan Axxess tour for WrestleMania XX, WrestleMania 21, WrestleMania 22, and WrestleMania 23 in major malls across the US. As part of the WrestleMania 20 Fan Axxess Tour, Jim performed at the "House of Blues" in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New Orleans sponsored by Gibson Guitars. From 1990 to 2001 Morris traveled worldwide representing WWE for Coliseum Video sales and later with Sony Videos. In 2005, Sirius Satellite Radio added "Hillbilly Jim's Moonshine Matinee" as a weekly program on its Outlaw Country channel 63. Every Saturday, Morris plays a wide variety of classic country music and Southern rock. Between records, he told stories of his days with the WWF. WWE for Extreme (2007-2009) Morris made a surprise return to WWE for Extreme on the December 17, 2007 edition of RAW, answering Kris Kutter's open invitation for tag team partners. Kutter and Jim would go on to defeat The Kingdom for the World Tag Team Championship at Armageddon, marking the first time Jim held championship gold. The Kutter Regime (Kutter's stable, but also referring to Jim when teaming with Kutter) was originally billed as an "odd couple," Jim slowly began shifting more towards Kutter's sadistic style, dropping his old theme music in exchange for Kutter's and wrestling a more aggressive style. The Kutter Regime unified the World Tag Team Championship with the ECW Tag Team Championship at the Royal Rumble, defeating The Dark Breed. At this point, the Hillbilly Jim character lost most of its previous face value, with Jim even following Kutter's orders to assault Trish Stratus. In an interview, Jim accredited his success to Kris Kutter, saying that even Hulk Hogan couldn't get him to a championship. During the WWE Draft, Jim was drafted to ECW while Kutter was drafted to SmackDown! Though still tag team champions, and able to appear on all three shows, the separation allowed both men to focus on their individual careers. Jim entered a "Glass Ceiling Tournament," in which the winner would receive a title opportunity for the ECW Championship. Despite making it to the finals, he ultimately lost to Bull Buchanan. After ECW closed, Jim was drafted to the SmackDown! brand where he joined Kris Kutter. They eventually lost the titles at The Bash to The Refugees when Jim walked out on Kutter. Their reign was the longest in the companies history, breaking the record set by Demolition. Other media Morris has appeared in a number of trade shows, such as Atlanta Super Sports Show, Video Software Dealer's Association, Focus on Video, and many others. Moreover, he has had numerous personal appearances in national retail stores, such as Blockbuster Video, Wal-Mart, Kmart, Toys "R" Us, and Kroger. He has done a national commercial for Chevy trucks and another local TV and radio commercials in Kentucky. He appeared in WWE cartoon series Hulk Hogan's Rock N' Wrestling, D.I.C. Productions. He is featured in the game WWE Smackdown! Here Comes the Pain and is billed as a legend. He performed the song "Don't Go Messing With A Country Boy" for the The Wrestling Album, which was certified gold. Its follow-up album, Piledriver - The Wrestling Album 2, also included a duet by Hillbilly Jim and a female singer credited as Gertrude, entitled "Waking Up Alone". Filmography *''Hee Haw'' *Live with Regis and Kathy Lee *Farm Aid *Jerry Lewis Telethon *Special Olympics *Juvenile Diabetes Telethon *Variety Club Children's Telethon In wrestling *'Finishing moves' **Bearhug **Running leg drop *'Signature moves' **Big boot *'Theme songs' **"Don't Go Messing With A Country Boy" performed by Jim Morris **'"Ten Thousand Fists"' by Disturbed (used as a part of The Kutter Regime) Championships and accomplishments *'WWE for Extreme' :* Unified Tag Team Championship (1 time and current with Kris Kutter) :* World Tag Team Championship (1 time, with Kris Kutter) :* WWEFE Tag Team of the Year (2008) *'Pro Wrestling Illustrated' :*PWI ranked him # 298 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003. Category:1952 births Category:American wrestlers Category:Managers and valets Category:Wrestlers Category:Tag team champions Category:The Kutter Regime